South Los Angeles

She spent three decades in prison as the outside world moved on. Her children aged. Grandchildren were born. Friends passed away. Mary Virginia Jones, who was serving life without parole for murder, did not despair. She told visitors not to cry. An ordained minister, she preached to dozens every week at the interfaith chapel. She directed Bible services, led hymns and was sought out by those who asked for spiritual guidance. They called her "Mother Mary. " On Monday, she walked into a Los Angeles courtroom in a blue jumpsuit, her hands shackled behind her, her gray hair pulled into a taut bun. The 74-year-old calmly sat down and smiled at her attorneys.

Authorities on Sunday were investigating the circumstances of a fire that swept through a South Los Angeles home and left one man dead. The blaze erupted in a single-story home in the 300 block of East 106th Street about 10:40 p.m. Saturday, said Cecil Manresa of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The victim's age and identity were not available. Coroner's officials said the body was burned beyond recognition. At least one smoke detector was present in the home, but whether it was functioning is unknown, Manresa said.

Los Angeles police late Wednesday were looking for a suspect or suspects in connection with a shooting that left a woman and boy wounded while they rode a Dash bus in South Los Angeles. Police said it was not clear whether the victims were grazed by the bullet or cut by shattered glass after the bullet smashed a window on the bus at Avalon Boulevard near 42nd Street. The boy was believed to be about 10 years old and the woman was in her 30s, said Officer Sara Faden of the Los Angeles Police Department.

A boy and a woman were apparently grazed by a bullet Wednesday evening as they rode a Dash bus through South Los Angeles, police said. The bullet appeared to have been fired from the street as the bus drove along Avalon Boulevard near 42nd Street, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Officer Sara Faden said the boy was about 10 and the woman was in her 30s. Two rescue ambulances were requested. The incident was reported around 6:40 p.m. No other details were immediately available.

Plans for the revitalization of the Jordan Downs housing project in Watts have been thrown into disarray after Los Angeles officials learned Monday that the city will not be awarded a $30-million federal grant they had been counting on for the development. For years, officials have been touting their plan to spend upward of $700 million to transform the derelict and often dangerous housing project into a mixed-income community of up to 1,800 stylish new apartments, along with chain stores and new streetscapes.

It's a story whose elements are all too familiar. It's easy to deem it another indictment of our failing child welfare system: A drug addict who has already lost six children to the foster care system is jailed after her two little boys wander into a liquor store alone, hungry and looking for food. The toddlers - 2 and 3 years old - are wearing soiled diapers and dirty clothes. It takes police two days to track down their mother whose rap sheet includes arrests for prostitution and theft.

A nonprofit that operates 10 health centers downtown, in South Los Angeles and in Compton will increase its employees' pay to a minimum of $15 an hour in what it deemed an anti-poverty measure intended to jump-start "living wage" efforts around the region. The wage hike by St. John's Well Child and Family Center, to be announced Thursday, will increase the pay of 137 workers, many of whom now make $11 to $12 an hour. The chief executive of the health provider said that as it celebrates its 50th year in existence, St. John's wants to honor its historic roots.

As part of a crackdown on nuisance businesses, city officials revoked the liquor license of a South Los Angeles liquor store Friday that they say had become a hot spot for crime and violence. Law enforcement officials said that 125 arrests had been made directly related to alcohol purchased at Time Square Liquor over the last two years, including for public intoxication and selling alcohol to minors. Additionally, the business had been cited twice for violating its conditional use permit by selling alcohol without a license. "This is a long time coming," said LAPD Capt.

Nearly 200,000 people have signed up for Obamacare coverage in L.A. County, new state data show. To put that in a national perspective, if the Los Angeles area were a state, it would have the fifth-highest enrollment in the country. It would trail only the rest of California, Florida, New York and Texas. L.A. County had 198,158 enrollees through the end of January. In comparison, Texas posted a total of 207,524. Full coverage: Obamacare takes effect Among other states, Pennsylvania had enrollment of 123,681 through January, and Washington reported 88,945, according to federal data.

The mother of two toddlers found wandering a busy South Los Angeles street earlier this week was arrested and booked on suspicion of child abuse Wednesday afternoon, police said. Sidnicka Wilson, 32, was arrested near Western Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard about 1:30 p.m. after a citizen flagged down two officers and directed them to a vehicle she was inside, LAPD officials said. The brothers, ages 2 and 3, were first spotted inside a liquor store at Stanford and Manchester avenues Monday morning trying to get a loaf of bread.